Outfoxed
by Trynia Merin
Summary: Shikamaru has his eyes on a blonde jinchuriki.


Title: Outfoxed

Chapter: One shot (side story and prequel to With Strings Attached)

Author: StarbearerTM

Series: Naruto Shippuden

Rating: K+/ light T

Spoilers: Naruto Shippuden

Pairings: Shikamaru/Naruto and Kankuro/Sakura

Warning: implied M/M attraction

Word count:2155

A/N: Inspired by an RP with a friend for this pairing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto Shippuden; it was created by Masashi Kishimoto and is licensed by Shonen Jump. I make no money for the writing of this fanfiction

Yes, the blonde-haired person had changed greatly in the time they had been apart. One garish blue and orange his outfit seemed to have undergone some growth with the appearance of black on the jacket. Still it seemed to suit the blonde very well. What also struck the shadow user was the new hitai-ate that tied around his brow with two long cords dangling down in the back. They seemed to wave like a banner or flutter with the slightest movement.

However, this was just a superficial change compared to the handsome vivacious face taking on a more mature appearance. Immediately drawn to it the Nara could not help keeping his eyes on the mature version of the signature grin, or the exotic shape of his eyes that was even more appealing. Naruto seemed to be sunlight personified in that golden blonde spiky hair of his. Was it soft to the touch or bristly, Shikamaru wondered?

Stopping by the Ichiraku ramen bar he slumped into a seat close to the blonde as he chattered with old man Teuchi about his latest mission. Sakura and Sai were elsewhere though sometimes they did come to join him. He recalled the first time that Naruto had insisted the ROOT member try ramen, for he had watched from across the street discretely.

"Oi Shika, how's it going?" Naruto asked, swinging his head around to the Nara.

"Ok I guess. Today was a troublesome one though," Shikamaru answered, glancing lazily at the placard where the prices were listed.

"What'll it be, Shikamaru san?" asked Teuchi as he smiled at the Nara.

"Green tea, and a bowl of the shrimp ramen," drawled Shikamaru. Curious about just why Shikamaru was choosing now to suddenly eat with him, the blond put on a slight frown and slatted his eyes.

Reaching up he put a hand on Shikamaru's forehead, and saw a slight blush color the other's cheeks. "Are you sure you're not sick?"

"Oi, I'm not sick," the shadow ninja grumbled. "Why are you being so troublesome? You never complained before when I joined you for ramen."

"I thought you had a date with Temari," drawled Naruto with a teasing grin.

"That troublesome woman? No thank you," he snorted. "Not when she's busy chasing after Genma san."

"Temari... and GENMA?" asked Naruto blinking. He picked up his chopsticks halfway poised to his bowl. The noodles dangling from his mouth dripped until he slurped them up.

"Your green tea sir," Ayame said as she put it in front of him and Shikamaru nodded his thanks. He grabbed a napkin and dabbed soup off Naruto's chin.

Naruto stuck out his lower lip. "Oi what are you doing? I'm not a little kid, tebayo!"

"You'll get soup on your orange uniform, and I'm not going to hear Sakura bitching about how you don't keep your clothes clean. It's troublesome enough when she whines about you and socks you," grumbled Shikamaru.

"Don't remind me," Naruto muttered, watching Shikamaru sip his tea. A bowl of ramen was soon put down in front of him. Seizing his chopsticks the Nara then picked up a spoon and used it to steady the sticks while he spun the noodles on them. Then he lifted the noodles to his mouth.

"Did you also know that she was dating someone?" he asked.

"Well I know it's not Sai," Naruto mumbled. "But is it Lee?"

"Not Lee," said Shikamaru with a chuckle. "He has his eyes on Gaara of the sand."

"No fooling," mumbled Naruto, eyes wide. "But Sakura dating someone? She's not said anything to ME about it..."

"Huh, well I'll let you have two other guesses," commented Shikamaru, wiping his mouth with the napkin. A small smile twitched the corner of his lip as he glanced at the gaping Uzamaki out of the corner of his eye.

"You're up to something aren't you?" Naruto murmured as he twirled noodles around his chopsticks.

"Aren't you going to guess?" asked Shikamaru, blowing on a mouthful of noodles before popping them into his mouth.

Naruto shrugged without saying a word. Instead, he glanced back at his ramen bowl with chopsticks dipping immediately into it. A small hum of pleasure exited his lips after he poked another mouthful down. "Mmm... this is even BETTER than last time."

"You're giving up that quickly?" Shikamaru asked, frowning at him. "That's not like you."

"Well if I guess, then it's either right or wrong. Either way it doesn't matter cause Sakura would punch me for making a comment anyhow if I asked her, and chances are she's somewhere around here and would yell at me anyway if I guessed and..." Naruto mused, through slurps of ramen.

"Naruto, I was only playing a game, not putting you on the spot. I know perfectly well she's heading our direction on the street with her date, so relax. Even if she did comment or try to punch you do you seriously think I'd stand by and not block it?" Shikamaru asked, glaring at him.

A pair of chopsticks clattered in Naruto's now empty bowl. His blue eyes fixed attentively on the Nara, now wide again. He whispered, "Why would you block it?"

"Guess who she's dating first, you troublesome blonde and then I'll give you my answer," Shikamaru insisted.

Naruto threw up his hands. "Fine. She's dating Shino."

"Are you an IDIOT?" yelped a voice directly behind one of the cloth panels that hung over and offered privacy from the street outside. A pair of toes was visible in a set of sandals, and Naruto followed the line of sight up to the hem of a red kimono.

"What did I tell you?" Naruto grumbled as he glared at Shikamaru.

"Why would I date HIM?" yelped Sakura as she tugged the panel aside and glared at Naruto.

Blinking wide eyed at her he leaned back in his chair. "He's a nice guy maybe? Besides what's wrong with Shino anyhow?"

"I'm not into bugs, that's why! Besides he's got his eyes on someone ELSE! Get your head out of your butt!" Sakura grumbled.

"Sakura, why don't you take the stick out of yours, and get back to your date instead of being so troublesome?" Shikamaru asked as he crinkled his brow at her.

"Sakura baby is something wrong?" asked another voice that surprised Naruto. Into view dipped a painted face and a person with a black hood. Slung across his back were a set of three scrolls.

"Kankuro? You're dating Kankuro?" Naruto gasped, and then started to chuckle.

Nonchalantly the puppeteer grinned at them all while he saw the giggling blond almost falling off his stool "Hey Naruto, good to see you. Gaara says hi."

"WHAT are you LAUGHING ABOUT?" Sakura growled, her hand flashing out. However Shikamaru's hand blocked it.

"Whoa, sweetheart slow down, it's not THAT bad," the puppet ninja tried to calm her down as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Sakura, stop harassing my date," Shikamaru grumbled as he glared at her. "And mind your own."

"You're WHAT?" Naruto yelped at the same time as Sakura, both white eyed.

Sakura almost fell over if Kankuro had not caught her, her fist drawing back from where Shikamaru stopped it. Naruto pointed at the Nara and stammered, "D... date? Now wait a minute when... where... HOW? This isn't a DATE!"

"Isn't enjoying Ramen one of your favorite things? I DID join you, and we are having fun together aren't we?" Shikamaru smirked.

"Naruto, you and him? Seriously?" Sakura stammered, recovering from her shock. "Since WHEN? Why on earth didn't you tell me?"

At that point, Naruto's face flushed bright red and he swore he could see it around his teammate. Anger, resentment and a host of other things boiled in his stomach and he could not take it anymore. He gritted his teeth, realizing that Shikamaru HAD tricked him and was showing his interest, as well as the fact that Sakura had no right to judge anything.

"Well you didn't say anything about you and paint boy!" Naruto retorted at her. "And since WHEN was it any business of yours who I was with anyhow huh? Since you're not interested in me to begin with!"

"This has NOTHING to do with you, idiot!" Sakura blurted out, glaring at him. A loud shrill whistle interrupted their argument from the person suddenly standing up from his stool.

"Hey that's ENOUGH!" Shikamaru shouted, glaring at Sakura. "Do I have to do something troublesome and repeat myself? Back off from Naruto."

The pinkette's jaw dropped open. Like a gasping fish it alternated between that and a closed state a few times before Kankuro wrapped his arms around her to pull her back. "Oh- kay... I think it's time we left them alone. We don't want to miss the movie, babe."

"But... but... he..." Sakura stammered.

"Drop it Sakura, sweetie. You're beautiful when you're angry, but you're even prettier when you're smiling," Kankuro soothed, rubbing her back.

She wasn't the only one imitating the fish out of water because Naruto stood there mimicking while staring at the Nara who had just stuffed his hands in his pockets. With a tilt of his head and a frown, he flopped down on his stool again. He mumbled, "Naruto, close your mouth or you'll catch flies."

"Shika... did you just yell at Sakura and survive or am I dreaming?" Naruto babbled in shock.

"She's just a troublesome woman. She just doesn't know how to keep from blowing her stack. Besides my mom's way scarier than Sakura any day," the Nara said with a shrug.

Still Naruto almost fell off his stool as he rocked back and forth. Shikamaru returned to eating his ramen as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened until Naruto yelped, "HEY!"

"You should order another bowl," said Shikamaru, finishing another mouthful.

"Teuchi another bowl please!" Naruto called out but then snapped, "Oi, don't change the subject you smartass!"

"Troublesome blonde," the Nara sighed, shaking his head. "What is it?"

"You know what I mean! What's this whole thing about being on a date with me eh?"

A hurt look appeared on the shadow user's face. "If you don't want to you can leave now."

"It's not that I don't WANT to it's just that... usually people ASK other people out on dates, tebayo!" Naruto complained.

"So do you want to stay on this date or not?" Shikamaru asked, looking pointedly at him with those dark eyes.

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat, seeing that earnest plea. Almost as if Shikamaru had opened himself wide and left himself vulnerable. Reaching over Naruto rested a hand on his shoulder and said, "I... wanna stay, Shika."

Just the barest hint of a smile twitched the corners of the normally downturned mouth. Yet the lines in his brow uncreased, quelling the lump in the jinchuriki's throat. Shikamaru then seemed to sit up straighter and nodded. "Good."

"Besides, there's nobody else I'd wanna be on a date with anyway," Naruto admitted, blushing deeply.

Now a smile stretched that downcast mouth and lit up that normally dour face, surprising Naruto. Shikamaru rested his head on one hand continuing that happy expression that seemed so uncharacteristic but looked very handsome to the blond. He realized his heart skipped beats seeing it.

"So... since you've come to your senses, how about we take in a movie after this?" Shikamaru drawled, reaching over to rest a hand on the nervous Uzumaki's.

"Sure... sure why not! That's what people usually do on dates!" Naruto nodded; sure he looked like an idiot but Shikamaru's smile broadened.

"Then eat your ramen and we'll go. There should be a showing at 7 and at nine," Shikamaru said, checking his watch.

"What are we seeing?" asked Naruto, looking at the paper that Teuchi handed him.

"There's a whole choice, boys," the ramen cook indicated, setting down a bowl for his best customer.

Naruto saw Shikamaru take the paper and a refill of green tea. He paged through the entertainment section thoughtfully without extra effort. "Comedy, thriller, action... romance..."

"Ugh, no thanks on the romance..."

"Any reason why?" Shikamaru asked.

"Romance is for girls," Naruto made a face. "Action adventure for me!"

"Heh, but you do make a pretty attractive girl, even though I prefer you just as you are," Shikamaru chuckled.

"You mean you're..." Naruto stammered, now beet red. Quickly he stuffed more food into his mouth and gulped it down.

"More specifically you," Shikamaru explained, lifting a napkin to the jinchuriki's lips to wipe them clean of the drops.

Naruto was sure he felt steam coming out of his ears at the flattery. He almost fell over if Shikamaru had not stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "It's not healthy to scarf down your food, so take your time."

"S... sure, yeah right!" Naruto whooped, and then tackled his ramen with more enthusiasm.


End file.
